Frostbite
by Iruka Sensei871
Summary: When Kakashi contracts frostbite on a mission, Naruto must decide how far he will go to save his friend. Warning for graphic medical description. I don't own Naruto, nor will I make any money off this story.


Kakashi and Naruto were returning from a mission in Rain Country, and by the time they found shelter they were both soaking wet. Kakashi was well chilled, too, having been forced to hide in a swamp to avoid patrols.

Naruto couldn't quite make out what Kakashi was mumbling under his breath as they traveled, but it sounded like he was cursing the Rain Country in general and swamps in particular. He stumbled through the undergrowth almost constantly.

They found a cave far out of the way of normal traffic, and Naruto watched as Kakashi tried to open his pack. Kakashi's fingers shook so badly that Naruto finally opened it for him.

Kakashi pulled out a ration bar, which Naruto had to help him unwrap. "Haven't eaten in a couple of days. I'm glad you were around. I was in some real trouble back there." He managed to get a bite in his mouth, but he was obviously having trouble with his hands.

A sharp burst of wind swept into the cave, and Kakashi wrapped his arms around himself and shook. "I need to get warm," he said. His breathing was fast, and he breathed in staccato bursts. "I could only use so much chakra, and I put it into my feet to keep them warm. I can barely feel my fingers."

Naruto pulled Kakashi's gloves off so he could examine his hands. "Definitely frostbite," Kakashi said. He flexed his hands and winced. "I don't think I'll lose any fingers, but I'll be glad to get out of this weather, and this country."

"I'll make a fire," Naruto said.

"Too much risk that the smoke will give us away," Kakashi said, "and I need to warm my hands slowly, or I could get a blood clot. Put your hands around them."

Naruto wrapped his hands around Kakashi's. Kakashi was almost completely covered in winter gear, so Naruto could only see his face, which was mostly covered by his mask, so he really only saw one eye. Kakashi shook violently.

After a few minutes Kakashi moved his hands and flexed them, hissing at the pain. "They're definitely damaged, but we can't travel further in this storm. You'll have to set up camp in that old barn south of here. Do you remember your hypothermia first aid?"

"I didn't pay much attention," Naruto said.

"Put down the bedrolls and help me take off my clothes. I'm going to need you to put any extra clothes you have on the bedroll so we can keep as much heat in as possible. And hurry. This is dangerous."

Naruto put down his bedroll and peeled off Kakashi's gloves. His skin was yellowish, with an odd, waxy look.

"Superficial frostbite," Kakashi said. "I managed use chakra to channel some heat to my hands. I'll probably get away with minimal damage there. I quit feeling my nose and ears hours ago, though."

Naruto helped him out of his parka, and he grimaced at the condition of Kakashi's ears.

"How bad is it?" Kakashi asked.

"It's not good," Naruto said.

"This isn't the time to be squeamish!" Kakashi said. "Tell me what my ears look like."

"Swollen, red. They're dark blue around the rims, most of the outside, actually."

"Fuck. I hope we get home before gangrene sets in. I'll definitely have to get reconstructive surgery."

Naruto pulled his mask down carefully.

"Your nose looks bad too."

"Yeah, I can see that," Kakashi said. His nose was bulbous and red, and the end of his nose was dark blue as well. "I'm going to lose a large chunk of my nose. This is serious."

"Does it hurt?" Naruto asked.

"My hands do, but I still can't feel my ears or nose. I'm sure I will after they thaw."

Naruto helped Kakashi remove his shirt, and Kakashi held his arms around himself, trying to stave off just a bit of the cold.

Naruto began to blush as he unbuttoned Kakashi's pants, and then he hesitated.

"Just do it!" Kakashi said. "I'm getting colder, and I need out of these wet clothes. I could catch pneumonia."

Naruto pulled Kakashi's boxers down, and he couldn't help but let out a quick burst of laughter.

"Yes, yes," Kakashi said irritably. "Shrinkage is very funny."

He crawled inside the bedroll.

Naruto lay down beside him, glad there was room for at least Kakashi to lie on his back so he didn't have to spoon his Sensei.

"You're warm," Kakashi said. "This is getting a little better." His body still shook, and Naruto waited until the shaking subsided and he began to hear snores before he slept himself. He woke only an hour later, unable to sleep.

Kakashi's head slipped and he woke and yelped, holding his ear. "The ears thawed," he said. "I can feel them now. Do you have any pain pills?"

"I keep three," Naruto said. "They aren't very strong though, just for headaches. Is it bad?"

"It's getting there. I can feel my ears and nose now, and it's like a raging fire. I'm going to hold off on the pills until I can't take it anymore. Every touch of the bedroll is painful to my ears."

Naruto was exhausted after the long trip through rough terrain, and he slept deeply, eventually. When he woke Kakashi was breathing through his mouth.

"Your ears and nose are black," Naruto said.

"Yeah," Kakashi said. "This is bad. I think I'll take those pain pills now."

"Sensei, your hands!" Naruto said.

Kakashi's fingers were one large, swollen blister from his palms to his fingertips. They looked like fat sausages ready to burst.

"You should probably bandage them for me so they don't burst," Kakashi said. "If I don't get an infection before we get home it will be a miracle."

Naruto carefully wrapped Kakashi's hands loosely in bandages, watching as his Sensei's face blanched from the pain.

The morning was still freezing, and Naruto pulled extra clothes from his pack. After he helped Kakashi dress, he couldn't help but laugh at the general effect. The clothes were several sizes too large for him, and Kakashi's longer legs made the pants come to the tops of his socks.

"You look like a scarecrow," Naruto said.

"It can't be helped, I suppose," Kakashi said. "We need to cover my face against the wind, but the mask is going to be too tight."

He helped Kakashi take the pain pills, and then he wrapped a scarf around his face. As it covered his nose Kakashi gasped, closed his eye, and reeled as if he was going to faint. Naruto put a hand behind his back to steady him, and Kakashi opened a glazed eye, panting.

"Get it off," he said.

Naruto pulled the scarf off, and he saw that some skin came away with it, not much, but enough to worry him. He pulled the bit of black, dead skin off and looked at it.

"Sensei, this is bad," he said.

"We need to get to a doctor quickly," Kakashi said, "but it will take a long time just to get out of enemy territory, two days at least, and that's if I could travel at top speed, and if we could go directly, which we probably can't."

"Then we should get moving," Naruto said. He put his parka on Kakashi and pulled the hood as far over his face as he could.

"I can't get frostbite with Fuzzy inside," Naruto said. "Can you really travel like this?"

"I don't see how we have a choice."

They had to make a long, circling route around towns, houses, and farms, and by the time the day was halfway through Kakashi was moving at about half his usual pace, still breathing through his mouth so he could spare his nose.

They had to stop to avoid a patrol, and as they hid in the woods Naruto felt his frustration build as he realized they would be days longer getting home than he'd anticipated.

When they were able to travel, Naruto said, "I didn't see anywhere near this kind of activity on the way up here."

"They don't know who I am, but they're looking for me," Kakashi said. "And you too, most likely. This might be harder than I thought."

They took to the hills, traveling through wild country. It proved difficult for Kakashi to move through the bushes without using his hands, so they had to use the animal paths and natural breaks in foliage wherever they could, with Naruto clearing brush for Kakashi when a path wasn't readily available.

Their camp was rougher than the night before. Naruto couldn't find a cave for them, so they had to settle for the sheltered side of a boulder.

"At least it's warmer than last night," he said. He put out the bedroll and unwrapped Kakashi's bandages to look at his hands. All of the blisters had popped, and his fingers were wet, shriveled, and raw looking.

"Nothing to do but rebandage them and hope for the best," Kakashi said.

"That's the most you've said for hours," Naruto said. "It must really hurt."

"Hai."

When Naruto pushed back Kakashi's hood Kakashi staggered back and held a bandaged hand to one side, just over his ear. "Careful!" he snapped. When he pulled his hand away Naruto saw that a chunk of skin had come off when he removed the hood, and oozing creamy matter lay underneath.

"Should I bandage it?" Naruto asked.

"We should save the bandages for my hands," Kakashi said. "They can be salvaged. My ears and nose can't."

They passed a sleepless night huddled together for warmth, and in the middle of the night Kakashi groaned and pushed the blanket back.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"I'm hot," Kakashi said. "I must be running a fever."

Naruto put his hand on Kakashi's forehead. "Yeah, you're hot." He pulled the covers back over them. "You'll get worse exposed."

They moved on the next morning, and Kakashi said nothing for hours. He finally stopped and leaned against a tree. "I need to stop for awhile," he said.

"If you stop I don't think you'll start again," Naruto said. "I'll have to carry you."

With Kakashi on his back Naruto felt the heat coming off his face as their cheeks touched. "That's a high fever, Sensei."

He traveled until dark, moving as quickly as possible through the broken terrain, and that night Kakashi listlessly watched as Naruto prepared camp.

Naruto tried to think of a better way than carrying Kakashi through the wilderness, but he didn't know of any. They might find some hermit that would help them, but it was unlikely. He fell asleep searching his mind for any plan.

The first thing that struck his senses in the morning was an odd smell, like a dead body. He panicked as he looked at Kakashi, but he was still alive, if pale and ill.

"I smell something dead," Naruto said.

"No, that's gangrene," Kakashi said quietly. "I don't think I'm going to make it."

"Don't say that," Naruto said.

"We're too far away from anything out here," Kakashi said. "We could cut off an arm or leg if it was there instead of my face, but it's going to spread quickly, and the infection will probably get in my blood and kill me."

"Could I use a knife and scrape off the dead tissue?" Naruto asked. "If I got down to the good skin maybe you can heal."

"It might work," Kakashi said. "I don't know how I'll breathe with you working on my nose. I'll probably pass out."

"Lay on your side," Naruto said. He pulled out a kunai.

"You have to put it in the fire first to sanitize it," Kakashi said.

Naruto put the knife in the fire until it was red, and then he waited for it to cool.

"I think I should do the ears first," Naruto said. "That way if you pass out it will be easier when I do the nose. That's going to be really bad. Lay on your back and I'll roll you over to do your nose if you pass out."

Kakashi closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. "Just do it. Waiting is worse than the actual pain sometimes."

Naruto made the first cut, and as the rotten matter sloughed off of Kakashi's ear he almost vomited.

"You can't feel that?" Naruto asked.

"I can feel pressure, but I think that's the good skin underneath," Kakashi said. "What you're cutting is already dead."

Naruto slowly scraped away the dead tissue, removing a good two inches from the perimeter of Kakashi's ear. One final shallow cut revealed blood running down Kakashi's ear, and Kakashi put his hand over his ear and screamed.

"Be still!" Naruto said.

Kakashi put his arms by his sides and held them rigidly while Naruto worked, when he touched his ear with the scarf to dab away the blood, Kakashi groaned and lifted his hand, but he lowered it again.

Naruto scraped more, revealing damaged but living skin. He cut the skin slightly on accident, and Kakashi's eye rolled upward as he passed out.

Naruto worked quickly, and when he finished Kakashi's ears were a bloody mess, and they were misshapen and deformed, with most of the lobes gone. He bandaged Kakashi's ears and turned him on his side, trying to position his head so that he wasn't lying on his ears, but he couldn't work on his nose unless he lay with his head to the side.

 _At least he can't feel it,_ Naruto thought.

The nose was harder. He had to cut through cartilage, and even though his kunai was razor sharp, he felt the resistance as he mangled his Sensei's face. He forced himself not to think about what he was doing to Kakashi and instead to focus on the task at hand.

He had to turn Kakashi's head so that his nose was facing downward slightly, or he was afraid he might drown in his own blood. He looked down on his work. With the end of his nose gone, Kakashi's face was almost skeletal, and the grotesque scene tore at Naruto's heart.

He didn't dare bandage the nose, for fear of the blood going into his lungs, so he settled for dabbing away the blood until the bleeding stopped, and then waiting anxiously for Kakashi to wake.

Two hours later Kakashi's eye opened slightly, and he groaned. "Oh god," he said quietly.

"Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Uggghhh..."

"I got all the dead and infectious tissue out," Naruto said. "In the morning I'm going to take the most direct route home, and if I have to fight some people I'll do it."

Kakashi put a bandaged hand over one ear and drew in a sharp breath. "I can't..." he began. Naruto waited for him to finish, but he just lay with a wide, horrified eye staring at nothing.

"It's ok, Sensei," Naruto said. "I know it hurts, but you can heal now, right? If the fever goes down you'll be fine."

Kakashi moaned, and Naruto gave up talking to him, listening to him moan softly through the night. In the morning he tried to get him to understand what was happening around him.

"Kakashi, can you hear me?" he asked.

"Yeah. I just... we have to get some pain meds somewhere."

"There's a town at the bottom of the mountain," Naruto said. "I'll steal some for you."

He broke off a piece of a ration bar. "Just try to eat," Naruto said. He put a small piece in Kakashi's mouth, and Kakashi managed to alternate chewing and breathing with some difficulty.

He rebandaged Kakashi's hands, wincing at their worsening state. They looked white and infected.

"Just hang on," Naruto said. When he pulled Kakashi onto his back he bumped an ear, and Kakashi passed out again.

He raced down the mountain, and when he reached the foothills he had to avoid people. He found a farm near the town and snuck into the barn. Still carrying Kakashi he put some chakra into his feet and leapt into the hayloft, putting Kakashi down against the wall and hoping no one would come up there before he got back.

 _If they do find him he isn't in uniform, so they'll probably try to help him,_ he thought. "I'll be back," he said, even though he knew Kakashi couldn't hear him.

He had little problem stealing some medication, and as he raced back to Kakashi he was afraid he would find him still and breathless, but Kakashi was still alive, if horrible looking. He breathed slowly through his mouth.

Naruto checked his pulse, and Kakashi opened his eye, but he didn't respond.

"I brought pain pills," Naruto said. "Some real strong stuff."

He helped Kakashi take the medication. "I'll give you an hour or so to rest, and then we need to go. There were farmers out there, and it's only a matter of time before we get caught."

He tried to tell himself that there was hope, but he knew what he was looking at. Kakashi's face was bloody and mutilated, and he was only semiconscious. His ghoulish, flushed skin looked almost corpselike.

Naruto rebandaged Kakashi's worsening hands and ears, fighting down panic at the horror under the bandages.

When he loaded Kakashi onto his back Naruto snuck away from the unsuspecting civilians on the farm, and as soon as he was far enough away he ran at full speed, pushing himself to his limits.

He ran until nightfall, wondering if Kakashi would ever wake again, but when he found a safe place to spend the night Kakashi didn't even stir when Naruto carefully lowered him to the soft bed of pine needles.

Naruto couldn't see any signs of breathing, and when he checked Kakashi's pulse it was slow. When he held a hand over Kakashi's face he could barely feel the movement of air, but he knew it was only a matter of time.

He heard a familiar voice in his head. _All you can do is make him comfortable,_ Kyuubi said. The demon fox laughed. _It hurts, doesn't it?_

 _Shut up,_ Naruto thought. _I want to spend the last few minutes with him without you bothering me._

 _He doesn't know you're here,_ Kyuubi said.

 _You don't know that._

 _Please. You know it as well as I do,_ Kyuubi said _. Look at him. Nice job butchering his face, by the way._

Naruto didn't answer him. He sat and put his arms on his knees, watching for the slightest movement, any sign of returning consciousness.

 _I could heal him, you know,_ Kyuubi threw out casually. _I mean, I won't, but I could._

Naruto's first reaction was to dismiss his words as the hurtful barbs the Kyuubi liked to send at him at times, but then he thought, _he does heal me._

 _Why even mention it is you aren't going to do it?_ Naruto asked.

 _To hurt you,_ Kyuubi said. _To hurt Konoha. To deprive that wretched village of one of the strongest ninjas in the world when it's in my power to restore him. I might be persuaded, of course._

Naruto put his hand against Kakashi's cheek. It was clammy, cold. _I don't have anything I can offer you._

 _Oh, but you do,_ Kyuubi said.

 _Well, what is it?_ Naruto asked.

 _I'll tell you when the time comes,_ Kyuubi said. _Do you want to make the bargain? Your dear Sensei doesn't have much time. The infection is almost certainly in his blood by now._

 _I can't make that choice for him,_ Naruto said. _He would never forgive me for letting you heal him at the price of such a bargain._

 _What if I told you I won't make you kill innocents or betray anyone?_ Kyuubi asked.

 _Just tell me what you want already!_ Naruto said.

The Kyuubi's deep, growling chuckle grew into a howling laugh. _But it's so much fun this way! I'll tell you this. I'll find a way to hurt you. So what's it going to be? Will you accept future pain, or should we just let him die? I mean, he's still young, and he could live decades more, but it's up to you._

Naruto took Kakashi's pulse, which had slowed and become erratic. _Do it,_ he said quietly. _As long as you don't make me act against my way of the ninja I'll repay you._

 _The bargain is complete,_ Kyuubi said. Naruto felt a shock go through him. _I can't deal with him directly like I can you, so you'll have to cut him open first._

 _What!_ Naruto screamed.

 _I have to get my chakra inside his body, and I need you to cut him open so I can do it. It needs to be a deep cut too._

 _He'll bleed to death,_ Naruto said.

 _No, the moment you cut him I'll let my chakra plunge inside and heal him. I'll stop the bleeding first, and then I'll deal with the infection. Lastly I'll heal the actual wounds. You did a horrible job with those, by the way._

 _I can't do that,_ Naruto said. _I think you can't do it at all, or you won't. You're just making me do this to hurt me._

 _That could be true,_ Kyuubi said. _You have a difficult choice. If you don't do this he'll die, and if you do he might die or live. You can't really lose anything by trying though. He's already doomed._

 _I need to start a fire so I can sanitize my kunai,_ Naruto said.

 _That isn't necessary,_ Kyuubi said. _I'll just heal him of any bacteria your knife introduces into his system. Do this quickly. You don't have long, and I can't raise a person from the dead._

 _I'll cut his arm,_ Naruto thought.

 _It has to be through the core of the body,_ Kyuubi said. _You'll have to gut him._

Naruto pulled Kakashi's shirt up, and he ran his hand over the barely moving torso.

 _What are you waiting for?_ Kyuubi snapped.

 _I'm trying to decide the best way to do this to avoid organs, but I can't. Sakura could._

 _Don't worry about it. Just don't cut the heart or lungs. If you cut low I can heal the other organs quickly. I always took longer with you because I need you to live, but I liked making it slow._

Naruto held the knife just under the heart, but then he lowered it a bit, just to be safe.

 _Too high,_ Kyuubi said. _Cut lower._

Naruto touched the skin just above Kakashi's navel.

 _It's just like cutting through an enemy,_ he thought. _Or a fish for dinner. A really big fish._

With a quick stroke he pushed the kunai into Kakashi to the handle, and he pulled downward, feeling the flesh and organs resist. Even before the kunai was out the blood gushed from Kakashi, and for a second Naruto was sure Kyuubi had tricked him into killing his Sensei, just for its own sadistic pleasure.

Then he saw the red chakra plunge into Kakashi, pulling back the blood that he had lost into his body and then rushing into him, more and more.

Kakashi's face gained color, and his breathing became stronger. A few minutes later he stirred, opening his eyes and then looking down at himself in horror. He saw a deep wound and the red chakra entering him.

Naruto saw the panicked, terrified look on Kakashi's face.

"It's ok Sensei," he said.

"How is this ok?" Kakashi asked. "You have to stop this!"

"It's too late for that," Naruto said, "but it should be over soon, I think. He's been working on you for about 10 minutes now."

"He? You mean the Kyuubi? You let the Kyuubi do this?"

"You probably only had a few minutes left to live," Naruto said. "He offered, and I had to take a chance."

The chakra pulled out, and Kakashi's flesh closed before their eyes, leaving a massive scar. "What have you doomed us to?" Kakashi asked.

"Not us, just me. I have to repay the favor in the future. Do you feel strong?"

"No. What do you mean just you?" Kakashi asked.

"It's too late to worry about it now," Naruto said. "It obviously worked. I wish he had regrown your ears and nose, but at least you're going to live."

"Don't change the subject," Kakashi said. "What did you promise him? You know demons are all tricksters."

"I don't know what I promised," Naruto said. "I told him that as long as I didn't have to break my code I would do what he wanted."

"You should have let me die," Kakashi said.

"It's too late now, and I don't regret it," Naruto said. "I just owe him one thing, one time. Whatever it is can't be as bad as losing you."

"You know you can't break a promise to a demon right?" Kakashi asked. "You'll give him power. I don't know what will happen with the Kyuubi sealed, but it could be bad."

The laughter in Naruto's mind almost made him vomit. _I had hoped he wouldn't realize that, but no great loss. I had planned on my escape when you went back on your word and I gained the power of the broken vow, but I'll settle for causing you so much pain._

The Kyuubi sighed in pure pleasure. _O so much pain._

Kakashi got up and put on a cloak, pulling the hood far down to cover his face. "Come on," he said. "Let's go."

"At night?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. I want to get home and try to see if Shikamaru and I can think of something to help you. I still don't feel as strong as I would like, but I can travel."

They raced through the trees, and Kakashi occasionally looked at him as they ran. When the moon struck him just right Naruto could see his ruined face underneath, and he shuddered at the thought that Kakashi looked more like a spirit than a living man.

They traveled two days, barely stopping for food, and only when Naruto insisted that Kakashi needed to rest. Kakashi would wear himself out to the point of exhaustion, and he would argue with Naruto every time he began to stumble and Naruto insisted they stop.

When they came into fire country and more developed land Kakashi pulled a scarf over his face to hide his nose.

"Tsunade-sama is going to have a fit," Naruto said.

"About my face or about you making a pact with the Kyuubi?" Kakashi asked.

"Probably both," Naruto said.

They stopped outside the Hokage Tower. "You should come in with me," Kakashi said. "She'll want a full report." Kakashi hid the fear he felt. He had no idea what Tsunade would do, but he hoped Naruto made it out in one piece.

They waited in the lobby until Tsunade's meeting was over.

"Why are you wearing full winter gear in here?" Tsunadae asked.

"You're not going to like this," Kakashi said. He pulled the scarf off and she gasped. She was looking inside his nose, the gaping hole grotesque and fearful.

"Kakashi, what did you do?"

"Frostbite," he said. He pulled down his hood and she touched his ears.

"Someone talented worked on you. I'll get you an appointment with a cosmetic surgeon."

Kakashi noticed his reflection in the mirror near her desk and put the scarf on quickly. He pulled the hood back on, hiding his disfigurement. He didn't recognize the man in the mirror, and he turned away, feeling lost and confused.

"There's more, but I was unconscious for it, so I'll let Naruto explain."

"I…ah…" Naruto started. He looked at Kakashi.

"Don't look at me," Kakashi said. "It was your idea."

"The Kyuubi healed Kakashi," Naruto said.

"Not the best time for jokes, Naruto," Tsunadae said.

"No, he did. Kakashi was almost dead, and the Kyuubi healed him."

"Why?" Tsunadae asked. "What did you have to give him?"

"I don't know," Naruto said.

"It's an open contract," Kakashi said.

"You…" She glanced between Kakashi and Naruto. "You made an open contract with a demon?"

"Yes?" Naruto said tentatively.

Tsunade's enraged scream could be heard throughout the castle, and Naruto stood paralyzed before her. Kakashi edged toward the door, but Tsunadae pointed at him while she kept her eyes on Naruto.

"Don't go anywhere, Kakashi!" she said.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Tsunadae asked. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

The Kyuubi laughed inside Naruto's head.

"I don't care," Naruto said. "It was the only way to save him."

Tsunadae turned away from him and paced around the room. She threw her hands up. "What the fucking hell!?"

"I'll figure it out," Naruto said. "I told him I'm not betraying anyone or killing anyone innocent. He wants to hurt me, but it's worth it."

Tsunadae put her hands on his shoulders. "Naruto, you gave a demon permission to do what he wants to your body. I can't help out get out of this one. All I can do is heal the damage."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Naruto said. "It's a one-time thing."

"Let me know what he tells you to do, beforehand if possible."

She ordered Kakashi to go to the hospital and wait for her. After he left she pulled Naruto into a hug. "Tell me everything you can," she said.

"I already have," Naruto said.

As he walked home Naruto tried not to think about the promise. _I did the right thing,_ he thought.

He tried to study, but he had even less patience than usual with the boring reading required to prepare for the Chunin exam.

 _I can't believe I still haven't gotten to take the exam,_ he thought. _I should have been Chunin a long time ago. It isn't fair._

He had read the same passage about ballistics four times when he shut the book. He resisted the urge to throw it across the room.

 _Are you distracted?_ The Kyuubi asked in his mind. _Are you thinking about what I'm going to do to you?_

"No," Naruto said out loud. "Shut up."

 _I've decided, but you'll have to go to the hardware store. I want you to give me one night, and then I'll consider your debt repaid, but it's going to be the worst night of your life._

Chakra assisted cosmetic surgery was still painful, and it was days before Kakashi was off pain medication enough to leave the hospital. He stood in the bathroom, looking in the mirror at his ears. He ran a finger around the rim, and he decided that if he hadn't known they were fake he'd never have suspected. The shape was different, but at least they looked like ears. The nose was another matter. Whatever they had used was an odd, rubbery substance that didn't have the right consistency, and when he touched the end of his nose he wondered if he'd ever get used to it.

They had managed to match the color perfectly to the rest of his face, but he could definitely tell a difference. He wasn't sure if anyone else could. He pulled his mask up, carefully fitting it over his nose without moving it around too much. It still hurt.

The pressure of the mask was still too much to bear, but he kept it on and just decided to get home as quickly as possible so he could uncover his face.

But first he had to stop by Naruto's. Naruto had visited him in the hospital, but Kakashi had been too high on painkillers to remember what they'd talked about, and he hoped that the Kyuubi hadn't already made him keep his promise.

Naruto answered the door, looking tired but whole. "Good, you're up," Naruto said.

Naruto had cleared off his kitchenette table that doubled as his work bench, and on it were scattered an assortment of objects. A pile of sandpaper, a fishing knife, and caustic lye were part of the collection. A set of medical tools were spread out on a metal sheet.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto glanced at the table. "Just a project," he said, but the way he tried to distract Kakashi let him know Naruto was hiding something.

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm not sure," Naruto said. "The Kyuubi keeps sending me to get stuff. It won't tell me why, just that I'll need it."

Kakashi looked at the electric drill and shuddered. "Naruto, I don't know what the Kyuubi is going to do to you, but don't let it happen while you're alone."

Naruto refused to talk more about it, and Kakashi left wondering if Naruto would survive keeping a promise to a demon.

Kakashi took the mask off as soon as he got home and rubbed his nose gently. After rubbing on the topical pain medication he looked at his ears again and frowned. They might as well have been a strangers ears.

He couldn't sleep that night, not with Naruto in danger. _What will that demon do to him?_ He wondered. _He should have let me die._

He gave up trying to sleep about three and decided to walk. The night was cool and pleasant, and he walked through the village, greeting the sentries as he went.

He waited until 5 to visit Naruto. He knew he usually got up about then. When he knocked, Kakashi heard movement inside, but no answer.

He knocked harder. "Naruto, answer the door!" _Did the Kyuubi already make him keep the bargain?_

He waited a couple of minutes and then opened the Sharingan, and he saw the chakra of a human.

"Naruto? Open the door."

Naruto came to the door. His eyes were glazed and he was pale. He didn't invite Kakashi in, but he didn't close the door as he walked back into his apartment, so Kakashi followed.

Naruto sat heavily on the couch.

"Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi asked. He glanced at the table and was relieved to see that the tools the Kyuubi had made him by were still there, and free of blood.

"The Kyuubi made me pay last night," Naruto said.

"Did he heal you afterward?" Kakashi asked. "You need to go to the hospital. Let's go."

Kakashi looked over Naruto for any sign of injury, but he didn't see any sign of injury.

"He didn't hurt me physically," Naruto said. "I wish he had. I wish I had died rather than what he did."

"What did he do?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto looked Kakashi in the eye for the first time that morning. "He showed me his mind."


End file.
